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Where Does the Digital Platform Takeover Leave Hospitals?

Aug 09, 2018 - 08:56 AMby

Genevieve Diesing

Where the Platform Takeover Leaves Hospitals

What would the Uber/Amazon/Grubhub platform model look like in health care? wonders thought leader Ken Kaufman in his latest blog post. Although such a platform would be challenged by the complex nature of the field, major retailers and tech companies are advancing nonetheless, he says. For example, CVS Health has the potential to create a broad and highly integrated platform with its pending merger; Apple is enabling patients to view their medical records; and the Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway startup could conceivably capitalize on Amazon’s knack for creating consumer loyalty and enhancing patients’ digital experiences.

Where does this leave hospitals and health systems? They might become part of another entity’s platform – similar to restaurants that have adapted their business models to Grubhub and Uber Eats’ delivery platforms — or they might create their own platforms. “In any of these scenarios, the health system would need a deep understanding of the necessary capabilities for success and a plan to achieve those capabilities,” Kaufman said.

Template for Inclusive Work Environment Highlights Need to Feel Valued

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published a study in JAMA Network Open outlining a template to identify, measure, and address the issues that contribute to inclusive learning and work environments, Penn Medicine News announced. Inclusive workplace culture can be measured by six factors, the study shows. They are: presence of discrimination; silent witness; interplay among hierarchy, recognition, and civility; effectiveness of leadership and mentors; support for work-life balance; and perceptions of exclusion from inclusion efforts. “Regardless of the factor, the underlying thread among these six factors was the need to belong and feel recognized and valued,” researchers wrote.

Henry Ford Health System this week announced its first ever “direct-to-employer” health care contract. The agreement with General Motors will deliver both health care management and wellness services to salaried GM employees and their families throughout Southeast Michigan.

“We are very committed to addressing the affordability of health care – offering exceptional care while bending the cost curve for consumers in the communities we serve,” said AHA Board Member Wright L. Lassiter, III, president and CEO of HFHS. “Given our experience in delivering value-based care, and our extensive physician network, we are uniquely poised to create a truly innovative solution for GM, their employees and families.”

To nudge patients toward better health, the health system will offer wellness exams and preventive screenings, will monitor chronic conditions, and will guide patients toward walk-in clinics rather than emergency rooms when applicable. In addition to monitoring member health outcomes, HFHS will measure overall customer satisfaction.

“These tools, along with the collaborative network of physicians that we’ve assembled, have enabled us to make an immediate and positive impact on our patients,” said Bruce Muma, M.D., chief medical officer and interim president and CEO, Henry Ford Physician Network.

Amazon/Chase/Hathaway Startup Will Be Accountable to Its Founders

The unnamed startup founded by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway and led by Atul Gawande will be a non-profit-seeking internal entity “that serves the three founding companies,” an unnamed source told STAT. The source emphasized that the company is designed to achieve public good but is still a private body accountable to its funders — not to patients outside it walls. Gawande has previously mentioned that the effort is entirely independent of its parent companies and is designed to lower costs and improve care for the 1.1 million employees of the companies and to develop health care solutions for the rest of society.

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